Id go ahead and sue them, they will counter sue because of the siding damage, thus proving you did the services. The argument will be over the siding damage that you dindnt cause.

A couple years ago I got summonsed to court where one of our clients had jumped ship and left several contractors without pay. We had received all but a month worth of pay, but there was an electrical contractor who had been working for about 3 months since his last payment was processed and even though he kept sending late notices and continued to bill, he kept on working and just adding to the total. The judge told him that he was eligible for payment up to the date of the original late invoice, but once he started sending out "past due" notices AND still continued to work, he was taking it upon himself to work "at risk". Granted this wasn't small claims court, this was over $180K worth of outstanding debt between several sub contractors for a large job.

That's my point. If the OP continued to bill and was not receiving payment, the judge if they decided, could say something similar "you knew you hadn't been getting paid, but still continued to provide a service..." tough luck. But again, we don't know the whole situation.

A couple years ago I got summonsed to court where one of our clients had jumped ship and left several contractors without pay. We had received all but a month worth of pay, but there was an electrical contractor who had been working for about 3 months since his last payment was processed and even though he kept sending late notices and continued to bill, he kept on working and just adding to the total. The judge told him that he was eligible for payment up to the date of the original late invoice, but once he started sending out "past due" notices AND still continued to work, he was taking it upon himself to work "at risk". Granted this wasn't small claims court, this was over $180K worth of outstanding debt between several sub contractors for a large job.

That's my point. If the OP continued to bill and was not receiving payment, the judge if they decided, could say something similar "you knew you hadn't been getting paid, but still continued to provide a service..." tough luck. But again, we don't know the whole situation.

I agree, not too mention the deal is over a year old. No telling how a small claims court judge would rule.

In your example a civil law suite would have been necessary in which a "Jury" should have ruled on it.

I agree, not too mention the deal is over a year old. No telling how a small claims court judge would rule.

In your example a civil law suite would have been necessary in which a "Jury" should have ruled on it.

Personally after a year and only 500$ Id just forget about it.

To me it just seems like stuff like this is "Judge Judy" material. No offense to those involved, but there's just a whole lot of factors to be involved before the "almighty lawnsite jury" could make a decision on what he should do. Personally I hope for his sake it is a $500 one time deal that they never paid and he's got records from where he keeps sending notices. If it's an account that has been building up on the AR, I just don't see re-cooping any money on that one.

To me it just seems like stuff like this is "Judge Judy" material. No offense to those involved, but there's just a whole lot of factors to be involved before the "almighty lawnsite jury" could make a decision on what he should do. Personally I hope for his sake it is a $500 one time deal that they never paid and he's got records from where he keeps sending notices. If it's an account that has been building up on the AR, I just don't see re-cooping any money on that one.

Small claims wont have a jury trial, the 180,000$ suit would. Small claims judges are usually lawyers starting out their careers

Like I say I wouldn't mess with it, but the op is worried about it an small claims court is his only chance of collecting it.

[QUOTE=MikeTA95;4874937]I have a customer that is majorly past due (from last season). I didn't continue their service in spring because of nonpayment. I've been sending past dues since last October. I recently sent them a letter saying they needed to pay up, or I was going to have to take it to the next step.

They wrote me a letter back claiming we broke their siding, and that's why they never paid us. THIS WAS NEVER BROUGHT UP TO ME UNTIL NOW, ONE YEAR LATER. They claim the damage is insignificant, so they can't find a reputable contractor to do the work replacing it. The letter said "once you find and pay a reputable contractor to repair the siding, we will pay you."

I do not like this, this is the second time in my career a non-payer claimed we damaged their house well after the bill was due in order to avoid payment. Last time I let it go, and it still bothers me every time I pass that guy's house. I don't want to let them slide, but realistically is it worth my time doing anything about this? The bill is about $500. If you do think it's worth my time fighting, what CAN I do about it?[/QUO
Your from New Jersey, skip the court and find you a mobster to collect the debt

I have a customer that is majorly past due (from last season). I didn't continue their service in spring because of nonpayment. I've been sending past dues since last October. I recently sent them a letter saying they needed to pay up, or I was going to have to take it to the next step.

They wrote me a letter back claiming we broke their siding, and that's why they never paid us. THIS WAS NEVER BROUGHT UP TO ME UNTIL NOW, ONE YEAR LATER. They claim the damage is insignificant, so they can't find a reputable contractor to do the work replacing it. The letter said "once you find and pay a reputable contractor to repair the siding, we will pay you."

I do not like this, this is the second time in my career a non-payer claimed we damaged their house well after the bill was due in order to avoid payment. Last time I let it go, and it still bothers me every time I pass that guy's house. I don't want to let them slide, but realistically is it worth my time doing anything about this? The bill is about $500. If you do think it's worth my time fighting, what CAN I do about it?

I would hand it over to American Profit Recovery. A greens ind collection company. They can't hold your money hostage. Hope you have insurance, let them sue you for it, it would be hard to prove you did the damage when they have had someone else taking care of it between when you stopped and now.Posted via Mobile Device